Parents
Parents play a large role in a student's college career and in their decision to join a fraternity or sorority. Whether your family has a long history of fraternity and sorority involvement or your child is the first fraternity or soririty member in your family, our office is here to help you along the way. We greatly value the role that parents play in the lives of their children and look to you as an ally in making every student's fraternity and sorority experience the best that it can be. Please take the time to look around our website and become familiar with Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of South Carolina. If you're still looking for more information, do not hesitate to call our office Monday-Friday from 8:30-5:00 at (803)777-3506.
A Letter to Parents
Dear Parents of Incoming Carolina Students:
On behalf of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of South Carolina, congratulations on your son or daughter's decision to attend Carolina! This is the beginning of a very exciting experience for them. While they are busy making preparations for the upcoming semester, we would like to introduce Fraternity and Sorority Life at Carolina to you.
Carolina Fraternity and Sorority Life provides an opportunity for your student to get involved on campus while developing friendships and personal skills. At Carolina, Fraternity and Sorority Life stands as a positive model of our four core values – Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Friendship – and those values are represented in everything that we do. The following are just a few of the ways our community shows its dedication to our values:
Scholarship - Our dedication to academics is first and foremost. We are proud that fraternity and sorority members have consistently higher grade point average than non-affiliated students and graduate at significantly higher rates. Fraternities and sororities often have higher academic standards for their members, which encourages high achievement. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has a partnership with the Academic Centers for Excellence, which assigns an academic coach to each chapter to provide extra resources to students.
Leadership - We proudly encourage leadership development among all of our chapters. This starts with our newest members, the future of our chapters. Our Greek Camp, which is organized by Greek Programming Board, begins developing the potential that we see in our most recent pledge classes. Beginning in spring 2012, our office and the Office of Leadership Programs will host a Greek Emerging Leaders Program for first and second year Greek members to further develop their leadership skills and knowledge of Greek Life. We also host a Greek Leadership Retreat for current presidents and council members. We take pride in our additional leadership development programs as well, like the Greek Programming Board Retreat, NPHC Retreat, and Greek Judicial Board training process.
Service - Between our philanthropic events and service projects, fraternities and sororities are always showing the campus community, Columbia community, and communities nationwide our dedication to service! We proudly have an annual Carolina/Clemson blood drive in which we challenge Clemson to see who can donate the most blood in the state of South Carolina. Our blood drive is the largest collegiate blood drive in the entire country, and many other campuses are adopting a rivalry model similar to ours. We also support Dance Marathon, twenty-four hours of dancing to raise money for our local Children’s Hospital. An annual favorite among faculty and community members is Trick-or-Treat with the Greeks where the Boys and Girls club of Columbia and children of faculty come to trick-or-treat throughout the Greek Village.
Friendship - Friendship is a common theme throughout the fraternity and sorority community, and as our members become more involved on campus and within our community, friendships are inevitable! The shared bond of being in a fraternity or sorority provides a common ground for all of our members. We are especially proud of Greek Week, in which all of our chapters come together for a friendly competition to raise money for a local philanthropy!
Over the summer you will be receiving the Guide to Carolina Fraternities and Sororities that explains the recruitment process more fully, as well as goes into more depth about Carolina Greek Life. While this process is for your son or daughter, we recognize the vital role parents play in our community! We invite you to follow us on Twitter at @UofSCFSL or like us on Facebook by searching University of South Carolina Fraternity and Sorority Life. We also would love answer any questions or hear any comments you may have – these can be sent to sorority@mailbox.sc.edu or sofrat@mailbox.sc.edu.
Our 10 NPC sororities use a Formal Recruitment process in August; Registration can be found at http://www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife/sorority/ and must be submitted by August 13th at 5:00. Our 18 IFC fraternities use an Informal Recruitment process in August; Registration can be found at http://www.sa.sc.edu/greeklife/fraternity/ and must be submitted by August 19th. Finally our 8 NPHC and 2 multicultural fraternities and sororities use an Intake process, which is organized by the individual chapters. Registration is not required for Intake.
We are excited to count your son or daughter among the newest additions to the University of South Carolina family, and hope you will consider the positive impact Fraternity and Sorority Life can have on their college experience. We encourage communication with parents on a year round basis and look forward to the opportunity to further discuss our community with you.
Go Gamecocks and Go Greek!
Sorority and Fraternity Council
Recruitment Information
Sorority Recruitment
Fraternity Recruitment
Parents Weekend
Parents Weekend 2011 will be held Friday, September 23-Sunday, September 25th. This year our office will host 2 different sessions on fraternity and sorority life.
Friday, September 23rd
12-12:45 p.m.
It’s all Greek to Me: Greek Life 101
Russell House, room TBA
Ever wonder what fraternities and sororities are like? Come hear about our thriving community from staff and student leaders!
2-2:45 p.m.
My Student is Greek – Now What?
Russell House, room TBA
Did your son or daughter just join a fraternity or sorority? Come learn about the new member process and how you can help them make the most of being Greek!
To register and view the complete schedule, visit the Parent Programs website at http://www.sa.sc.edu/parents/parents-weekend/.
Helpful Documents
Greek Report Fall 2011- GPAs, service hours, philanthropy dollars, involvement, and chapter awards for each chapter
Greek Report Spring 2011- GPAs, service hours, philanthropy dollars, involvement, and chapter awards for each chapter
Greek Report Fall 2010 - GPAs, service hours, philanthropy dollars, involvement, and chapter awards for each chapter
Housing & Meal Plan Costs Fall 11 & Spring 12 – Includes dues, meal plans, and housing costs per chapter (Note that costs are self-reported by chapter and subject to change)
Hazing Hotline: To report any suspicion of hazing, or any other violations, call the Hazing Hotline 24/7 at 803-777-5800.